1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to apparatus for treating textile material which is in a continuous loop. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus for the treatment, such as dyeing or scouring, of a textile material, such as knitted, woven or non-woven fabrics, which is in a continuous loop, and which involves circulating said textile material with a treating liquor.
2. Description of Prior Art
Jet treatment of textile material in an endless loop form is well known, wherein the textile material is treated by circulating the textile material together with a treating liquor while allowing the transient residence of the textile material in a bath, said bath being arranged in an approximately horizontal position.
In such jet treatment of a textile material, proposals have recently been made for making the treatment more efficient, whereby the circulation of the treating liquor and the textile material is carried out at a high speed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-37112). By increasing the circulation speed of the treating liquor, as well as increasing the circulation speed of the textile material, the treating liquor is in more frequent contact with the textile material, so that the treating time decreases, thereby resulting in a more efficient operation. On the other hand, proposals have been made, for the purpose of economizing the treatment, whereby the amount of the treating liquor is decreased so that the treatment takes place with a low liquor ratio (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Specification (Kokai) No. 53-130369). The total volume of the treating liquor is decreased by inclining the bath, which lowers the liquor ratio so that the consumption of energy is decreased and the necessary amount of dyes or treating agents is also decreased which allows more economical treatment.
However, such a low liquor ratio treatment may have a drawback in that the textile material is not smoothly transferred in the bath due to the small volume of the treating liquor and, thus, it becomes difficult to obtain an even treatment of the textile material. Particularly, in the case where such a low liquor ratio treatment is applied when rapid treatment takes place, as mentioned above, the problem that the textile material is not smoothly moved through the bath makes it impossible to practically carry out such rapid treatment of the textile material. This is because a complex entanglement of the textile material occurs due to the unsmooth movement thereof in the bath, so that the treatment operation is often interrupted.